This invention relates generally to sign holders. More particularly, the present invention relates to a holder for planar or sheet material wherein the holder has a pair of hingedly connected panels and a prong on one panel which is adapted to pass through a hole in the other panel.
The invention is particularly applicable to holders or display devices useful in a retail environment where price sheets or other signs need to be displayed to purchasers. However, it should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the invention has broader applications and may also be adapted for use in many other environments, such as holding a plurality of sheets together or holding a display fixture to a support.
It is conventional practice in retail establishments to indicate the price of merchandise held on shelves with price sheets being mounted to the shelf adhesively or with some type of support or clip. The price sheet may be positioned in a plane parallel to the front edge of a shelf or a peg board type display or in a plane perpendicular to the front edge to call the buyer's attention to the goods.
It is desirable that sheets be mounted securely to prevent accidental or mischievous dislodgement. Previously known clips accomplish this through mechanical locking means. For example, a pin and slot arrangement or gripping teeth would prevent the removal of the sheet except by manually disengaging the locking means. Some such clips are made from several parts to facilitate the removal of sheets. However, such devices are more costly to produce than is a one piece device.
A known one-piece clip includes first and second panels that are hingedly connected to each other. One of the panel members includes a prong which extends through an aperture in the other panel member thereby impaling a sheet of planar material therebetween. Such a design is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,375,803, which issued on Dec. 27, 1994. However, this known design is only useful for a limited range of retail displays, namely C channels. It would be desirable to adapt a similar type of one piece sign holder for use in connection with metal and plastic scan plates, such as are used in peg board displays and in connection with wire baskets and similar wire-type merchandising and displays.
Also known to the art is a ticket holder which employs first and second panels that are hingedly connected to each other and can be secured together via a toothed prong. Each of the first and second panels has a respective extension rigidly mounted thereto. The prong is mounted on the first extension. The first extension is hingedly connected to the second extension and pivots in relation thereto. When the panels and extensions are folded, the prong protrudes through aligned apertures formed in the first and second panels. Such a design of a ticket holder can be found in Design Pat. No. D440,606 which issued on Apr. 17, 2001. In this design, the planar material or ticket is held between the two panels but is not pierced by the prong. Rather, the prong is spaced away from the area of the two panels between which the ticket is held. Thus, the ticket is liable to fall out of the holder, since it is not positively locked to the holder.
Accordingly, it has been considered desirable to develop a new and improved holder for planar sheet material which would overcome the foregoing difficulties and others while providing better and more advantageous overall results.